Reset
by Capitan Canada
Summary: "All your hard work, all their memories, I BROUGHT THEM ALL BACK TO ZERO! Now we get to do everything all over again! And this time, I won't lose."
1. The End

**Hey guys! So I recently discovered the amazingness that is Gravity Falls. It just so happened that I started watching it right after the series ended, so I got to binge, and it was glorious. Seriously, this is probably my favorite cartoon now, especially from a story perspective! So, of course, I had quite a few story ideas to play around with and I'm excited to share them with you! I've written the first couple chapters of this one and another one, so I'l probably be posting that sometime this week.**

 **As for my other stories, have no fear! I have not abandoned them, but I like to hop around from story to story.**

 **Now that I've said what I needed to say, enjoy** ** _Reset_**

Chapter 1 - The End

 _Dipper held Mabel close, refusing to let go. They watched in silent compliance as their Great Uncle Ford took off his brother's fez. He tried to look strong as he took out the memory gun, but Dipper could see the tears threatening to burst forth. His Great Uncle typed in the name of the man who he and his sister had spent the last summer with: Stanley Pines._

 _As their Great Uncle raised the memory gun, his hand shook. He used his other hand to try and steady it, but to no avail. Mabel made to protest, but Dipper held his sister tighter. She looked back at him, silently pleading with him. He knew she what she was thinking: there must be some other way. Dipper hugged her tighter as she picked up Stan's fez, gripping it in her arms. Dipper looked back up at Ford, he was now looking away from his brother's prone form._

 _Time seemed to stand still as Ford pulled the trigger. Fiery blue energy blasted forth from the gun, straight into Stan's mind. Everything in his mind: hopes, dreams, memories, demons…they were all being erased._

 ** _STANLEY!_**

Dipper bolted up from his bed in a cold sweat. His body was tangled in a mass of sheets and blankets. He breathed heavily as he looked around his room. _Wait a second,_ he thought as he looked around. This was his room, the one in his house in Piedmont, California. He looked around at the various clothes and novels littering the floor of his bedroom.

He began breathing faster as he remembered the dream he had been having. _Saving Great Uncle Ford, tricking Bill, the memory gun, Gruncle Stan, stopping Weirdmageddon—_

At that moment he heard a scream from the room next to his. _MABEL!_

He jumped out of his bed and out the door faster than even he thought was possible. Not bothering to knock, he burst into his sister's room. She was sitting up in her bed, looking around frantically.

"Dipper?!" Mabel threw off her covers and ran to her brother, "What's going on here? Why are we back at our house!? What happened?!"

"I don't know! I DON'T KNOW!" Dipper screams panicking, "One minute, the world is ending. And now we're back home, like nothing ever happened!" Dipper pulled a pen from behind his ear, had he fallen asleep with it there? He began clicking it rapidly as he thought, "Was all that Weirdmageddon stuff just an elaborate dream? No, no it couldn't be, there is no way we could have the same dream, right?" He paced around the room as Mabel stared ahead in shock.

"Maybe we're dead," Mabel said blankly. Dipper whipped around to face her. He was about to refute her statement when he realized—

"Oh my gosh Mabel," He ran over and grabbed her by the shoulders, "What if we are dead?! What if this is like purgatory or something?!" They both began screaming.

"Wow, you two must really be excited to go to your Great Uncle's house today," The twins immediately stopped screaming and turned to look at their father. He stood in the doorway of Mabel's room, cup of coffee in hand. Dipper and Mabel looked at one another then turned back to their father.

"Huh?" They exclaimed in unison.

"I didn't think you two would be this excited to spend the summer with your Great Uncle Stan," their father explained. The twins looked at him, dumbfounded. He took a long slurp from his coffee and continued, "How cool is it that you'll get to spend the summer with an accomplished scientist, huh?" He chuckled as he walked back down the hallway.

The twins ran to the door and watched their father go down the stairs. At the bottom, they saw two piles of bags and supplies. Dipper and Mabel looked at each other as they slowly closed the door. The twins leaned back on the now closed door, both sliding down to the ground, sitting on the floor.

"It's the first day of summer again," Mabel whispered.

"The day we went to Gravity Falls," Dipper finished. They looked at each other with wide eyes. Mabel slowly puts a 'woah' sticker on Dipper's nose, making a boop noise as she does so. He looks at her unamused as he hears their mother call from downstairs.

"Twins? Get dressed and come down for breakfast, or you'll miss the bus to Gravity Falls!"

 _OZ'Y TKBKX ZUU RGZK ZU YZGXZ UBKX_


	2. Yesterdays Today

Chapter 2 - Yesterdays today

Dipper and Mabel could hardly believe where they were. Dust kicked up from the bus as it left back down the dirt road. They had all their bags with them as they waved away the dust cloud. In front of them stood their home away from home: The Mystery Shack.

"Looks significantly less fighting robot-y," Mabel observed as they stared at the shack. She then smiled and pointed to the roof, "Look! It still says 'Shack'!" As she spoke, a large woodpecker flew into the sign, the 'S' getting knocked slightly askew, then falling down from the roof completely, "Oh,"

Suddenly a puff of smoke appears before them. They both jump at the sudden smoke explosion until they see who the smoke was concealing.

"GRUNCLE STAN!" They both yelled as they ran to the old man in the fez and cheap suit. They each hugged him tight as he stared down at them. He cleared his throat uncomfortably as the twins held on.

"Um, yeah, uh," Stan stammered as he tried to shake the twins off, "It's me, your Gruncle Stan. Are you two okay?"

"Gruncle Stan, we're so glad you're alright!" Mabel exclaimed as she looked up at her Great Uncle. The look on his face was different, like he thought she was crazy, but not the endearing type of crazy.

"Uh, sure Kid, 'course I'm okay," Stan rubbed the back of his neck as the kids finally let go of him, "Don't really know what you're talking about, but—"

"Don't you remember? All that stuff with Bill and the pyramid and the apocalypse?" Mabel gestured around wildly. Stan looked at the young girl in confusion.

"I— I'm gonna be honest with ya kid, I have no idea how to respond to this," He said as he turned around, "Why don't I just show you two to your room."

Mabel's jaw dropped as Stan walked away, not giving the kids a second glance. She looked back over to Dipper, "He, he acted like he didn't even know us…"

Dipper watched as Mabel's lip quivered, tears forming in her eyes. Dipper grabbed a pen from his vest pocket and began chewing the end of it, "That's because he doesn't," Dipper realized. He then took off his backpack, leaving his belongings on the ground and began sprinting into the forest. Mabel quickly followed suit and chased after her brother.

"Dipper! Where are you going?" Mabel yelled after her brother. He had finally slowed down enough, and began knocking his fist on every tree they passed, "What are you doing?"

Dipper had his ear up to the tree he was nocking on. He shook his head and moved to the next tree. After a few more failures, he found what he was looking for. When he knocked on the tree, a loud clanging sound reverberated throughout the trunk.

"The bunker?" Mabel gasped as Dipper opened up a port on the side of the tree. He flipped a couple of the switches and heard the hiss of mechanical doors opening. Both twins turned around to see a small section of the ground opening up. They ran towards the opening, Dipper being the one to reach in and grab the artifact, a large and well used book with a golden six fingered hand and the number 3 adorning its cover.

"I don't know how, and I don't know why," Dipper admitted, "But I think we were sent back in time, back to the day we came to Gravity Falls. Stan doesn't know us because, technically, this is the first day we met Stan. I didn't even find the journal until the end of our first week here,"

"But how come we still remember everything?" Mabel questioned, "Why is everyone else all cuckoo bananas?"

"…I don't know," Dipper pondered, flipping through the journal, "maybe we were protected by whatever caused the time jump?" Mabel thought about that for a moment and realized it was a solid theory. Suddenly, she turned to Dipper and opened the journal to the page about the portal.

"So if we were sent back to the beginning of the summer, that means that Great Uncle Ford is still stuck in the portal!" Mabel realized. Dipper had made the same realization and they both began running back towards the shack.

 _QPRZ ID IWT UJIJGT_


	3. Catching up

Chapter 3 - Catching up

Stan dropped the last of the kid's bags on the floor of the attic in a heap. He dusts off his hands and grumbles to himself as he makes his way downstairs, "Darn kids, running off into the forest making me pick up their crap," He sat down in his worn yellow chair. He was about to turn the TV on when his niece and nephew, whom he still hadn't learned their names, came rushing into the room. They were covered in dirt and twigs looking a bit like deranged animals, _Yeesh, maybe I shouldn't have offered to take these kids over the summer…_

"Gruncle Stan there you are!" Dipper yelled as he ran and jumped to sit on the arm of the chair. Mabel quickly joined Dipper, plopping herself down on the other arm of the chair.

"We know we've been acting weird, well I mean, you've been acting weird—" Mabel began.

"We know about the weird stuff that happens in this town and we know—" Dipper talked over Mabel.

"—You just don't remember! But for some reason me and Dipper do—"

"—there could be some sort of time paradox or wormhole that was caused by—"

"—Now we can be a family though!"

"—And we can fix it together!"

Stan stared at his niece and nephew long and hard. They were breathing rapidly, not only from their long run beforehand, but also from their nonstop explanations just now. He gave a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Look kids, you're going to have to run that by me again,"

"We've already done this before!" Dipper yelled, "We came to Gravity Falls, we spent the summer here! I found this journal—" Dipper pulled out the journal and Stan's eyes got wide.

"Where did you—?"

"Yeah!" Mabel interrupted, "And I dated all these mythological creatures, got a pet pig, you even taught me to play poker!"

"You got a pig?"

"His name is Waddles," Mabel said with a grin.

"And now that we have the journal, we can help you finish the—" Dipper was cut off by Stan putting a hand on both of their shoulders. He looked more confused than ever, but there was a different emotion swimming to the surface, "Wait, are you mad at us?"

"Kids, I've known you for all of 10 minutes and the first thing you say is that you're time travelers from the future," He grumbles as he sets the twins down, "I think that bus ride was a little too long for you, why don't you go upstairs, set up your rooms, and go to bed."

"Wh-what?" The twins stuttered in unison.

"I think I'll be taking that book too," Stan said grabbing the journal from Dripper's grasp. Dipper reached to get it back but Stan held it over his head, "You two have a pretty crazy imagination, I think this book will only make it worse,"

"No! Gruncle Stan, I know you need the book," Dipper continued to try to grab it, but Stan held him back, "But we can help you! We've done this before! You don't have to build the portal alone!"

Stan froze as he looked down at Dipper and Mabel. They pleaded with him to listen, but he shook his head and walked to the kitchen, "This was a bad idea, I'm calling your parents," Stan sighed, "We'll get you on the next bus back to California" He picked up the phone and began dialing.

"Mabel karate CHOP!" Mabel screamed as she ran to Stan and smacked the phone out of his hand. It fell to the floor and shattered. Stan turned furiously to Mabel, but paused when he saw her face, she looked on the verge of tears, "Gruncle Stan, you have to listen to us! We know why you're keeping this a secret,"

"You're trying to save Great Uncle Ford from the Portal," Dipper chimed in. Stan stared at them in disbelief. He slowly sat down in a nearby chair. Mabel walked up to him and climbed up to sit on his knee.

"Gruncle Stan," She said softly, "we know that everything you're working to do, everything you care about, is for our family," She rests a hand on Stan's shoulder. He looks at her with a reminiscent expression.

"That sounds so familiar," he said to himself. Dipper climbed up on his Gruncle's other knee.

"It's what you told us when we found out about the portal the first time," Dipper added. Stan looked from one twin to the other. They were both giving him encouraging smiles. He noticed something else as well: they were determined.

"Well," Stan sighed,"Maybe you two aren't crazy," He saw their expressions change, they looked more excited than ever, "So…I did it, huh?"

"Yeah Gruncle Stan," Dipper answered, "you rebuilt the portal and saved your brother."

"But this time around, you don't have to do it alone!" Mabel exclaimed.

"Yeah! I got to spend a lot of time with Great Uncle Ford and learned a lot about his technology and how to read the journals," Dipper made his point by taking out a black light and showing Stan the hidden messages on the journal pages, "We can help you rebuild the portal to get Ford back. Like Mabel said, we are a family, and now, you don't have to do this alone."

Stan set both twins down on the ground and stood up. Without a word, he walked out to the gift shop of the Mystery Shack. The twins followed him as he walked up to the vending machine. He punched in the code, and the secret door opened. Stan walked down the stairs to the control room. Dipper and Mabel followed as the lights began turning themselves on. The room gradually lit up as they got closer to the glass window leading to the portal chamber. They stopped at a small desk, and the lights illuminating the portal turned on.

The portal was grey and dark, nothing like the working one they had seen earlier that summer. Stan then pulled a book out from a compartment in the desk. The journal was worn, like it had been flipped through many times. A Golden hand with an extra finger and a number 1 was secured on the cover. Stan opened the journal up to the page about the portal. Dipper did the same with journal number 3. They set them up to complete the schematic.

"There's still a part missing," Stan says.

"We can look for the second journal while we work on repairs," Dipper suggested. Stan looked over to his niece and nephew. They were determined to help him get his brother back. He looked out towards the dead portal remembering his brother's final words to him.

 _Stanley! Stanley! Do something! STANLEY!_

A newfound wave of determination washed over Stanley Pines. He kneeled down so he was at eye level with the twins, "Thank you," He said. He hadn't said anything so genuinely in a long time, "I know this is your second time doing all this, but this is my first, and if we're going to be working with each other, we're going to have to start with some introductions," He held out his hand and shook each twin's hand, "I'm Stanley Pines, your Great Uncle."

"I'm Dipper…Pines" The boy said as he shook his Gruncle's hand.

"And I'm Mabel!" the girl laughed as she shook Stan's hand. She then lunged forward and hugged Stan. Dipper joined in shortly after. This time, Stan didn't feel awkward or confused.

This moment, right here. _This_ was familiar to him. He may not know them now, but he knew these kids were his family, and he would do anything to protect them. They all released from the hug and looked back towards the journals. Stan ruffled Dipper's hair as they looked at the task that stood before them.

"Are you kids ready?" Stan asked. The twins nodded as they looked up at him, "Everything's going to change."

 _DOKWGYBU SC DRO LOCD USXN YP GYBU_


	4. Family Fun Day

Dipper was frozen with fear. He vaguely heard screaming behind him.

 _This can't be happening—_

Black stones crumbled around him. Everything was in a haze, almost as if he were in a dream. He felt a tug on his torn vest, someone trying desperately to get him to move. The screams were closer now, almost coherent in the boy's comatose state.

 _This_ ** _can't_** _be happening!_

Despite the screaming and pulling, he could not bring himself to look away from the sight before him. Large, swirling angrily with many colors, some he couldn't even identify. The portal trembled with the shaking of the structure. Within the center was an orb, he could only vaguely see two shapes within: one human, and one triangle.

"DIPPER!"

Dipper stared at the orb within the portal. He was terrified. Terrified for his family, for his world.

And terrified of what _he_ would do.

"DIPPER!"

 _Mabel?_

"DIPPER!"

Dipper bolted up with a scream as he woke up. He frantically looked around, trying to get his bearings. He found he had fallen asleep at the console for the portal, more specifically, on a laptop he had been using. Letters and numbers had been rolling across the screen from where his face had made the keyboard into a pillow. He took a deep breath as he closed the laptop.

 _It was only a dream…_

He had been having similar dreams ever since he got back to Gravity Falls. Each time it went a little bit farther. Each time he got another piece of the puzzle. They were nightmares, that was for sure, but they were the only key Dipper had to finding out what had happened to him and his sister. So he endured them, documented them.

Dipper rubbed his eyes blearily and blindly grabbed for his journal. He had decided to get one of his own this time around rather than write down his findings in his Great Uncle Ford's journals. He turned to the most recent page and added the most recent dream to the list he had been compiling. Despite having been in Gravity Falls for two weeks, Dipper was no closer to finding out what had caused them to get thrown back in time to the beginning of the summer.

" _Calling Dr. Dip-Dop, I repeat. Come in Dr. Dip-Dop_ ," the walkie talkie next to Dipper crackled to life. Dipper grabbed the device and held down the talk button.

"Roger sis," Dipper replied as he yawned, "Just making some calculations on the portal, over."

" _Well, wanna come up for some breakfast? You've been down in that basement all night,"_ Dipper looked at his watch. Digital red numbers flashed at him, 8:00 a.m. The teen rubbed his face, he couldn't believe he had been awake for almost 24 hours and was still nowhere closer to making the portal operational. With a sigh, he scooted his chair back.

"Yeah, I'll be up in a sec," Dipper left the walkie talkie on the desk as he trudged up the stairs. Upon opening the vending machine door, he heard his sister chatting with their Gruncle Stan. It had taken a week or so, but Stan was finally starting to seem more relaxed around the twins. It seemed the revelation about time travel and future knowledge had thrown Stan through a loop, but he recovered quickly.

"Woah, haha," His Gruncle pointed at him as he entered the kitchen, "Bag-check for Dipper's eyes! Am I right?"

"HAHA!" Mabel laughed, "It's still funny!"

Dipper gave a tired smile, with all the strangeness that had been going on, he was glad things felt at least somewhat normal. He sat in one of the chairs at the table, a plate of pancakes in front of him. He grabbed his fork and was about to eat when he paused, looking at the plate suspiciously.

"These aren't…Stancakes, are they?" Dipper asked turning to his sister and Uncle. Mabel smiled and shook her head. Relieved, Dipper began to dig in. He didn't particularly want to have to pick out Stan's hairs from his food…again.

Stan finished his breakfast and leaned back in his chair letting out a large belch. Mabel did the same as she finished her breakfast. Dipper finished one of his pancakes, leaned back, and attempted to do the same, but his burp came out as a hiccup instead. Embarrassed, he covers his mouth. Mabel and Stan stare at Dipper, then each other, then burst out laughing.

"Aw!" Mabel cooed, "That's adorable Bro-Bro!" She pulls Dipper next her, squishing him. Dipper scowls and pushes her away. Stan finally collects himself, wiping away a tear from his hysterical laughter.

"You knuckleheads are alright," Stan chuckled, "Speaking of which: guess what day it is?"

"Your birthday?" Mabel questioned. Stan flips Mabel's hair so it falls over her face. Now it's Dipper's turn to laugh. He and Stan high five as Mabel blows the hair out of her face.

"It's Family Fun Day!" Stan announced. Dipper and Mabel both look at each other in confusion, "I was thinking we could do some arts and crafts today! Mabel, sweetie, how well do you know the US presidents?" The twins immediately remember what happened the first time they had Family Fun Day.

"Let me stop you right there Gruncle Stan," Dipper said, "Maybe we should go fishing instead?"

"Fishing? Wait a minute," Stan's eyes narrowed at his niece and nephew, "What happens?"

"Let's just say, we don't have many friends down at the county jail," Mabel shuddered. Stan stared at Mabel for a moment before shrugging off her response. He walked over to the stove where he threw the dirty pots and pans into the sink, already filled to the brim with yesterday's dishes.

"Well, it is the first day of fishing season," Stan said thoughtfully, "And I could show you my boat!" Stan smiled and went off to get dressed, yelling after the kids to do the same. Mabel jumped down from her seat and ran upstairs. Dipper followed slowly behind her.

Dipper stumbled past the entrance to the gift shop toward the stairs when he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye. He did a double take as he looked back toward the gift shop. _Could've sworn I saw…_ Dipper trailed off as he hesitantly walked to the gift shop. Cautiously he opened the swinging door to find the gift shop empty. He checked the vending machine; it was still locked tight from when he had come up earlier. Dipper shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose and continued going upstairs to get dressed. He figured he was seeing things after being up for so long.

—

The sun had just fallen below the horizon as the Pines family all collapse in the living room of the Mystery Shack. They laugh as they settle in after the long day. Dipper and Mabel are wearing a couple of fishing hats that Stan had made before they went. They let out a collective sigh, satisfied with the fun they had that day.

"I still can't believe you kids didn't want to go looking that lake monster the hillbilly was yammering about," Stan said. He was worried that he would end up fishing alone when the old coot rambled on about the legendary lake monster. Despite only having known them for a short time, he knew the kids couldn't resist a good mystery. He wouldn't say it to their faces, but he was thankful they spent the day with him. He hadn't had any sort of family fun day since he and his brother were kids.

"Yeah, well, spoiler alert: the lake monster turns out to be a robot made by McGucket so his son will pay attention to him," Dipper replied, replacing his fishing hat with his pine tree hat. Mabel then pulls out a bag full of craft supplies and dumps it out on the floor. She lies down as she looks through the pictures they took while fishing that day.

"Now that we got a do-over for summer, I get to make my scrapbook all over again!" Mabel cheers. She begins choosing different pictures for their fishing trip and pastes them in the book.

"Guess your summer romances page will be smaller now," Dipper commented as he watched Mabel work. She paused for a moment, a small frown flashing across her face before she continued.

"It may not have worked out with any of those guys the first time, but now that I know what not to do, I wont make the same mistake twice!" She gives Dipper a determined look as she works. Dipper chuckles at his twin's fervency of having a successful summer romance. Sure, her obsession annoyed him sometimes, but it's like she pointed out: he had been pretty obsessed with the mystery hunting and the journals. She probably got sick of that sometimes as well.

Gruncle Stan leaned back in his chair and turned on the TV. They settled on watching Tiger Fist when a commercial popped on. The images on the screen display mountains and birds. Dipper and Mabel turn their attention towards the TV. A voice over begins.

 _"_ _Are you completely miserable? Then you need to meet—"_

"Oh no," Mabel put her head in her hands.

 _"_ _Gideon!"_

A collective groan rings out through the living room.

"That little twerp has always been a thorn in my side!" Stan yelled at the TV.

"Don't worry Gruncle Stan," Dipper began, "Gideon is a fraud. He can't tell the future, he's just conning the whole town." Stan thinks about this revelation for a moment then realization hits him.

"Hot Belgium Waffles! Why didn't I see it earlier," Stan smacks himself in the face, "The half-pint always called me Stanford. If he was a real psychic, he would have known to call be Stanley!"

"Yeah, turns out he uses little pin cameras of his face to spy on people!" Mabel gestures as she sits up. Stan realizes that his niece and nephew may know more about Gideon than he would have thought.

"Gideon cause some trouble for you guys too?" Dipper and Mabel nodded as the commercial continued to play. The twins thought back to all the times they had encountered Gideon.

"He only tried to date Mabel—"

"—his exact words were, 'make me his queen'—"

"Destroy our family—"

"Steal the shack—"

"And summon an all powerful demon that nearly destroyed the world," Dipper finished. Stan looked at him incredulously, then back at the TV where it was showing an image of the Tent of Telepathy. That was when Dipper's eyes went wide with realization, "That's it!"

"I mean, he did some other annoying stuff, but that was probably the worst," Mabel commented, trying to think of other instances she may have missed.

"What? No, I mean the only reason Bill ever came to our world was because Gideon summoned him to steal the combination to Stan's safe so he could steal the deed to the mystery shack!" Dipper had found a nearby pen and began clicking the top of it furiously. He stood up a paced back and forth through the living room and Mabel joined him going the opposite direction, "The only way he would've known how to summon Cipher would have been with the journal!"

"That's right!" Mabel snaps her fingers, a huge smile on her face, "He has the second one!"

"If we get that journal from him, not only can we finish the portal—"

"—but we can also stop him from ever bringing that stupid triangle to this dimension!" Mabel finishes as she and Dipper jump up and fist bump. Stan stares at his niece and nephew in confusion.

"Wait, Gideon has the second journal?" Stan repeated as the twins nodded. Stan groans, sinking back into his chair mumbling about how he could have gotten te journal so much sooner had he known, "I have no problem stealing form children, especially fake psychic brats like Lil' Gideon!"

Dipper turns to Mabel, a solemn look on his face. She raises an eyebrow at his strange change in mood.

"Mabel, you're going to have to take one for the team," Dipper admitted, patting his sibling on the back. Mabel's face went from confused to horrified.

"Nu-huh! No Way!" Mabel objected, crossing her arms and holding her ground, "There is no way I'm going to that stupid tent, to see stupid Gideon, and have him fall in stupid love with me!"

 _YMNQX BUZQE MZP FTQ CGQEF RAD FTQ EQOAZP VAGDZMX_

 _A/N I try not to leave too many notes, but I want to let y'all know that I appreciate you reading this little fic of mine! I am also going to start posting chapters for another Gravity Falls Fanfic sometime in the next week or so, so be looking out for that! I usually just write and update as I go, but I am going to write this one out completely before posting it, see how that changes things._

 _As for this story, I think I will update it at least once a week. You can count on the updates happening Friday or Saturday!_

 _Thanks again!_


	5. The Love Heist

Chapter 5 - The Love Heist

 _TUZPEUSTF UE FIQZFK/FIQZFK_

"I can't believe we went to this stupid tent to see stupid Gideon, so that he can fall in stupid love with me," Mabel grumbled as she sat down next to Dipper before the show. Mabel glared ahead, arms crossed, a scowl on her face. Dipper sat next to her, uncomfortably. Soos, on the other hand, had his curiosity piqued. He spotted a man on the other side of the tent who looked eerily similar to him. As the two repairmen's eyes met, they glared at each other.

The lights then dimmed, the show about to start. Dipper stole a glance at Mabel again, her posture screamed how much she did not want to be in the Tent of Telepathy. Dipper nudged his pouting twin as the music began on stage.

"Remember Mabel," Dipper whispered, "The only reason he liked you last time was because you thought he was adorable. You wont get him to like you with that attitude," She turned and glared at her brother. Sighing, she leaned back and a fake smile suddenly grew on her face. Dipper knew there was none of her usual exuberance behind it.

As Gideon walked on stage and began his spiel, Dipper began noticing many details he had missed the first time they had been here, like how often Gideon touched that bolo tie. Obviously, Dipper now knew it had magical abilities, but now Dipper noticed just how much Gideon used it during his performance. A smile formed on his lips, the satisfaction of another solved mystery boosting his ego.

Gideon had begun his little musical number by now and had walked over to Mabel. Dipper wondered if this plan was really going to work, or if they would end up having to outright break into his house and steal the journal from Gideon.

"I'll read your mind if I'm able," Gideon sang as the audience clapped to the rhythm. Mabel did her best not to roll her eyes at the boy. Gideon made a face to show he was thinking, "Something tells me your name's Mabel!"

"Wow, how'd he do that…" Mabel said flatly, finally rolling her eyes as Gideon was already running back up the steps to the stage. He finished his song with flashing lights, fireworks, the whole shebang. The crowd gave him a standing ovation, but Dipper and Mabel sat back down. They noticed how out of breath Gideon was after his little charade and they chuckled.

"Thank you!" Gideon exclaimed, "You people are the real miracles!" Everyone went wild with praise for Gideon, except for a certain pair of twins. Mabel scoffed at his last statement, Dipper nudging her, reminding her that she needed to look excited. She gave an exasperated sigh and clapped and cheered half-heartedly. Gideon took a few more bows and exited the stage.

As they got up to leave, Mabel noticed the small evil child looking in their direction, peeking out from behind the curtain on stage. She then nudged Dipper and gave a small nod, making sure he knew who was watching.

"Wow Dipper, that was great!" Mabel announced in an overt manner, "Did you see how adorable his dance moves were?" Out of the corner of her eye, she could see she had gotten his attention. She continued, "And did you see his hair? WOOSH!" She yelled, making a motion over her head. Dipper gave Mabel a nod; it was working.

"You are just too easily impressed, Mabel!" Dipper added as he and Mabel walked back to Soos' truck. One final glance at the tent and Dipper knew that Gideon would come looking for Mabel, just like last time. As they put their seat belts on, Dipper began to mentally formulate a plan to get that journal.

Dipper was thinking, Mabel could tell. The pen in his mouth was evidence enough of that. Mabel smiled thinking about the time her brother had chewed a pen so much that it burst. Speaking of which—

"Dipper, if you chew that pen any more it will probably—" Too late, the pen had burst in his mouth. Mabel burst out laughing at her ink covered brother. He grimaced, gaging at the ink in his mouth. He ran to the sink to wash it out. When he finally came back, Mabel hadn't quite recovered from laughing so hard.

"Okay, okay! I think I have a plan!" Dipper stated, wiping the last bit of ink from his face. He walked over to the table, a web diagram hastily drawn on a large piece of paper lay in front of him. Mabel took a seat next to him, staring at all the different plans her brother had laid out. "Since Gruncle Stan got the journal somehow last time, we have no idea where it is. That's where you come in, Sis!" Dipper pointed to another sheet of paper, a list of actions were numbered down the page.

"Bro-bro, how many times do I gotta tell you, you gotta stop making so many lists!" Mabel groaned as she looked through the abnormally long list, " what is this? 'Make goo-goo eyes?' What does that even mean?"

"Mabel, you just need to get close enough to Gideon to find out where he is hiding the journal," Dipper took his list from her hands, "Once we know that, Stan and I will grab it, then you can dump Gideon!"

"How can you be so sure he would even tell me?" Mabel's question went unanswered as a knock came from the door. Dipper peered out one of the side windows, seeing Gideon standing nervously on the front porch.

"Well, Romeo is here, so we're just going to have to try," Dipper offered as he pushed Mabel towards the door. She gave a panicked look back at Dipper, who just gave her a thumbs up and an unconvincing smile. She groaned but quickly threw a smile on her face as she opened the door.

This was going to be a challenge.

Gideon had lead Mabel back to his dressing room. He was so nervous, he had goosebumps all over! He knew he couldn't mess this up; Mabel was the most perfect person he had ever laid eyes on. Most of all, she seemed to like him.

As he opened the door to his dressing room, he turned to Mabel, who looked as if she were studying the room. That was odd. He would have though she would have been excited to see all that he had. Not matter! He could still woo her yet!

"See anything you like," the boy cast her a sideways glance, "'cause I do."

"Huh? Oh, yeah sure," Mabel mumbled as she walked inside. Gideon may have been smitten, but he wasn't stupid; he could tell Mabel wasn't all that interested in what he had to show her. Had he been wrong in his observations from the night before? Had he misread the signals?

Gideon noticed Mabel looking through the different clothes and costumes. He also noticed she wasn't looking at them, but past them. Was she looking for something in particular? Gideon considered this as he began showing Mabel various costumes.

Mabel groaned internally as Gideon began trying on all his costumes for her. She never realized how hard it was to act fake excited. Last time they had done this, she was having a blast. This time, she was having trouble not walking out on the kid. She had to remind herself that he hadn't technically done anything wrong or weird… yet.

Gideon changed back into his normal powder blue suit and walked back into the main area of the dressing room. He was straightening his coat when Mabel caught a glimpse of something sticking out of his interior pocket. It was a worn maroon color, and looked suspiciously book shaped. Mabel's eyes widened as she realized it was the journal.

"Mabel, 'you alright?" Gideon asked, his tone full of concern, "You look whiter than a ghost wearing a bedsheet." He scurried over to her. Mabel got up quickly, taking a step back. She couldn't help but stare at where she had seen the journal. She realized she had been staring for way too long, Gideon was going to get suspicious.

Mabel suddenly dives towards Gideon, feeling his jacket, "Wow Gideon! What kind of fabric is this? Cashmere?" She fired off each question in succession. She felt the outline of the journal and knew she had made the right assumption. Gideon took a step back and looked at Mabel warily.

"Uh, no. It's cotton…" Gideon said less enthusiastically. He then checked his watch quickly and clapped his hands together, "Oh dear me! Look at the time! Mabel, I'm going to need to walk you home, I have a big day at the tent tomorrow!" Gideon nearly pushed Mabel out the door of the dressing room, hurrying back to the Mystery Shack.

"I'm surprised we never found the journal if he had it on him," Dipper paced in front of Mabel and Stan who lounged in his chair drinking a Pitt Cola. "Like seriously! Where did he even put that journal? In his little fat folds?" Dipper halted his pacing, a sickening look passing over his face. Stan and Mabel's faces mirrored Dipper's.

"Thanks for that mental image, kid." Stan finished of his cola and tossed it behind the chair. He then gets up and stretches, his back popping and cracking. Dipper noticed his Gruncle stifling a yawn as he walked to the fridge to grab another Pitt Cola.

"Gruncle Stan, were you up all night working on the portal?" Dipper questioned hesitantly. He already knew the answer. The bags under his eyes made it obvious.

"Kid, I've been spending all night down there working on that stupid portal for 30 years," Stan rubbed a hand across his face. He opened the can and downed the entire soda.

"But we can help you now—"

"Dipper, you and Mabel focus on getting that journal, I'll focus on the portal," Stan put the can on the counter and stood taller, straightening out his gold chain, "Welp, I've got some rubes to swindle!"

With that he went upstairs to change as the twins watched him leave. Dipper turns to his sister, gesturing to their retreating Gruncle.

"Mabel, we need to get that journal," his sister groaned and rested her head on the table, "I never noticed how much this portal stuff was effecting Stan."

"I know," Mabel sighed, "And I want to get Great Uncle Ford back as soon as we can," She turned to Dipper with worried eyes, "But I don't know how much longer I can do this! And once I spotted the journal, Gideon started acting all weirdy! Almost like he knew I had seen it!" She brought her knees to her chest and began to slip her sweater over them when Dipper stopped her.

"I can't have you going into Sweater Town, not now!" Dipper gently pushed her knees back down. He put a hand on her shoulder and she sighed again. "Listen, I'll go with you! You distract Gideon and I'll grab the journal." Mabel gave a slight nod and opened her arms to Dipper.

"Awkward sibling hug?" She offered and Dipper embraced her.

"PAT PAT" both siblings said robotically. They released each other and Dipper shrugged.

"Well, I guess we need to go steal a magical book from a 10 year old so we can save our Great Uncle's twin brother from an inter-dimensional portal."

A/N

Hey everyone! This was originally going to be a lot longer chapter, but I didn't have enough time to do everything I had wanted to, so we will just save that for next time. Also, if you notice the style of writing change, you are not imagining things. I realized I do way to much jumping around from various character's POVs that it might be a little confusing or distracting, so I am trying out a new way of writing that I think I'll stick with.

Also, I posted a new Gravity Falls story, Return of the Body Snatcher! If you like this story, please go check out that one too! As for Reset, see you next Friday!


	6. The Actual Heist

Chapter 6 - The Actual Heist

Mabel stood in front of the Gleeful house, conflict brewing in her mind. She had tried calling Gideon for the past three days, but he hadn't answered her. She was terrified that she had blown the whole ruse until Gideon finally called her back. After a bit of flattery and, as much as Mabel hated to admit, _begging_ him to hang out with her again, he finally accepted.

And now she was here. Well, she wasn't alone. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Dipper pretending to read a newspaper at the bus stop. She couldn't help but smile at her brother's ridiculous disguise, a fedora, trench coat, and a mustache. Dipper had actually been against the mustache but Mabel insisted, saying that if he didn't wear it then she would!

"Focus Mabel!" She berated herself, "Just get the book and get it to Dipper! No problem!" She then gave a light knock on the door. Before she even pulled her hand away the door swung open to reveal Bud Gleeful, a large smile on his face.

"Well if it isn't little Mabel Pines," he drawled, "Gideon is waiting for you upstairs!" Mabel muttered a thanks and bounded up the stairs, stopping in front of Gideon's room. She was about to knock when the door opened and Gideon looked up at her.

"Oh Mabel! I was just comin' down to greet you," He said, "Guess you just couldn't resist the ol' Gideon Charm? Hm?" Gideon wiggled his eyebrows at Mabel as she stood there, trying hard to smile instead of punch Gideon in the face.

"Oh, yeah, I couldn't stop thinking of you," Mabel responded. While it technically was true, it wasn't in the sense that he thought. She begins to walk through the door when Gideon quickly ushers her back out and slams the door shut. She cocks an eyebrow at Gideon and he laughs nervously.

"I uh, thought we could go on a little stroll in the forest! Maybe take a romantic boat ride on the lake?" Gideon offered. Mabel squinted at Gideon suspiciously. He must have been hiding the journal in his room, she thought. She had to get a message to Dipper somehow. Gideon cleared his throat and that was when Mabel realized she hadn't given him an answer; she had just continued staring at him. Immediately she gave him a wide smile, hiding the plans she was making to clue in her brother to the whereabouts of the journal.

"Yeah! Let's go!" She proclaimed in a chipper voice as Gideon led her back down the stairs and out the front door of the Gleeful house. He began telling her all about his different shows and how everyone in town loved him, but she tuned him out. She spotted Dipper still on the bench at the bus stop as he looked up from his newspaper and she took the opportunity to jerk her head in the direction of the house. Dipper quirked his eyebrows up in question. She jerked her head harder toward the house, giving herself a bit of a head ache.

"Mabel," Gideon piped up, "What're you doin'?" Mabel froze and laughed, rubbing the back of her neck as she quickly tried to think of an excuse.

"Oh um I just had, uh, water in my ear!" She exclaimed hastily as she continued to jerk her head, "Yup, I went swimming yesterday and my ears are still plugged, haha-oh" She suddenly became very dizzy and put a hand to her head.

"Huh, I didn't think the Gravity Falls Swimming Pool opened for another couple weeks—"

"Y-you're right! I-it doesn't…" Mabel was grasping for another excuse, "I, um went swimming in the…"

"…Lake?" Gideon offered.

"Yes."

"Oh…okay," Gideon finished. The two stood there for a moment in silence. Mabel saw Dipper out of the corner of her eye sneaking around the house. Gideon began to turn in that same direction when Mabel grabbed him roughly by the arm.

"Welp," She said in a sing-songy voice, "Let's go into the forest!" She dragged him along, hoping she could keep the white haired boy preoccupied long enough so Dipper could grab the book. Despite her worries, she knew her brother would be able to find that book no problem!

—-

Dipper had a problem. The book was nowhere! He had a hard time getting past Gideon's parents, but once he finally got into the room, it was spotless. He practically tore the room apart and put it back together, but he couldn't find the journal anywhere. He did find a wooden doll version of Mabel and the Mystery Shack… _ew, first of all,_ but the journal was gone!

Dipper decided to try looking underneath the desk when he thought he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. In a panic, he began standing up, banging his head on the the desk. Rubbing his head, he bit back a yelp. A small knock came from the door and Dipper jumped again, his head making contact with the hard wood of the desk once more.

"G-G-Gideon?" a mousy voice stuttered from the other side of the door. Dipper figured it must have been his mother. _Poor woman_ , Dipper thought remembering how haggard she always looked. Who wouldn't be, with an evil son like Gideon. She knocked again, "G-Gideon are y-you a-alright?"

Dipper froze. If he didn't respond, she might come in, but if he did respond, she may realize he wasn't Gideon. He settled for the only thing he thought Gideon might actually do in this situation: he threw an empty jar at the door. It impacted with a crash and Dipper held his breath.

"I-I'll be vacuuming!" the mousy woman uttered quickly before rushing back downstairs. Dipper breathed out a sigh of relief and carefully pulled himself out from under the desk. He went over to the remains of the jar and began cleaning up. Once he picked up all the glass shards, he took them over to the trash bin next to the desk.

The trash bin had various popsicle sticks and wads of paper in it, but one caught his eye. It looked like one of Great Uncle Ford's drawings. He carefully reached around the glass and flattened the paper out on the desk. The page was indeed one of Great Uncle Ford's. His handwriting and drawings were unmistakeable. The drawing pictured a short scraggly tree, with what looked like actual human hearts hanging from it.

"'Lamprocapnos spectabilis'," Dipper read the page aloud, " 'Also known as the Love Fruit. Commonly used in love potions, just one bite of this fruit will make the person who consumes it to become utterly infatuated with the first person they see'! Oh no, Mabel!" Dipper shoved the paper in his vest pocket as he snuck out of the Gleeful house and into the forest. He followed the map drawn on the page, picturing the nearest location of the fruit. He just hoped he wouldn't be too late.

—-

Mabel was surprised when Gideon had lead her to a beautiful part of the forest. There was a small meadow with so many different colored flowers. They swayed gracefully in the wind. A small creek flowed beside the meadow at the tree line. Her jaw hung open in awe; it was so beautiful.

"I knew you'd like this place," Gideon said, a knowing smile on his face. She smiles back at him, although still untrusting, she had to admit, this place was pretty cool. She then began running around trough the flowers and dandelions, the white seeds and petals flying into the air with every step she took. She giggled in excitement, trying to catch the petals.

Soon she flopped down in the middle of the meadow. The petals settling around her. She gave a satisfied sigh as she looked up at the sky. Suddenly Gideon was in her view, she had almost forgotten he was there. He offered her a hand, and she accepted. He pulled her up and they both went to sit by the creek.

Mabel couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, she and Gideon could actually be friends. Maybe something had gone wrong last time where he became obsessed, but maybe they had fixed it this time. Gideon offered her and unusual object that made her eye's bug out.

"Uh, Gideon, is that a human heart?" She questioned, scooting away from Gideon. She then poked the strange object finding it quick firm. Gideon laughed and shook his head.

"Oh heavens no!" He exclaimed, "It's a fruit! It's only found in this part of the forest! It tastes like a mixture of raspberries and peaches!" He offered it to her again. Hesitantly, she took it from him and sniffed it.

"Huh, it smells like a cherry tree," She noticed that Gideon had only brought one fruit, "Well where's yours?"

"Oh I've got one right here!" He brought out another fruit, this one had a bite in it. The flesh was a pale pink color, "I just couldn't control myself! They really are my favorite fruit!" He took a large bite of the fruit and swallowed it.

Mabel looked from the fruit to Gideon. At first she had thought the fruit was poisonous or something, but Gideon had just taken a huge bite in front of her. She then had the crazy thought that he might have done something to her fruit.

"Could I just try a bite of yours first? I don't want to waste a whole fruit," She said.

"I don't mind at all!" Gideon handed her his fruit. He looked at her expectantly as she brought the fruit up to her mouth to take a bite.

—-

Dipper raced through the forest. He breathed hard as he stopped for a moment, taking the page out from his vest. He looked to see that he was almost at the spot. He sprinted ahead, getting scratched by thorns and branches as he ran hap hazardously through the brush.

He finally saw the bush, full of the love fruit. He noticed some small shoe prints walking toward a meadow. "Gideon," Dipper growled as he ran to the meadow. As he broke through the tree line he saw Gideon and Mabel sitting next to a creek with their backs to him. He ran towards them at full speed.

"Mabel!" He called out, "It's a trick! Whatever you do, don't eat the—" As Mabel turned around, Dipper's heart dropped. He saw the fruit in her hand, a couple of bites already taken from it, "NO!"

Gideon jumped up angrily, and Mabel sat there confused.

"What're you doin' here, boy?" Gideon questioned, pointing a finger at Dipper. Dipper also noticed Gideon's other hand going straight up to his bolo tie. Dipper whipped out the ripped out page in the journal.

"This is why I'm here!" Dipper held the page up for them to see. Mabel cocked her head at him.

" 'Synth Bees'? Cool! Bees that sound like synths! We could make a band!" Mabel proclaims! Dipper reels back and looks at the page. Realizing he held up the wrong side he sighed and turned the page around. Revealing the love fruit page.

"Gideon made you eat that fruit so you would fall in love with him!" Dipper explained as Mabel looked at the fruit and dropped it. She then glared at Gideon, who was glaring at Dipper.

"You ruined everything!" Gideon squealed in anger as he jumped down from the rock he was sitting on and went to confront Dipper. Activating his bolo tie, he lifted Dipper off the ground. Dipper squirmed and flipped in the air, getting deja vu from the last time this had happened. "You will rue the day you came between me and my sweet Mabel!" Gideon promised as he began to squeeze Dipper with the power of the amulet hidden in his bolo tie.

Suddenly a force bowled him over, his concentration on keeping Dipper aloft completely gone, causing the boy to fall to the ground. When Gideon finally got his bearings, he found that Mabel was the one who had tackled him to the ground.

"M-Mabel?!"

"Gideon how could you! Tricking me into falling in love with you?" She yelled as she held him down on the ground, "And just when I thought we might be able to actually be friends!"

"R-really?" Gideon said hopefully.

"Yes really! But not now! You just tried to destroy my brother! What the heck!" She screamed at him as she took hold of his bolo tie and ripped it from the little pocket of fat around his head, she guessed it was his neck. She then threw it to Dipper, who had recovered from his fall, and he smashed it on a rock.

"NOOOOO!" Gideon screamed as Mabel got up. Gideon scurried to pick himself up. Dipper ran over to Mabel.

"Don't worry, Mabel, we'll find a way to reverse whatever that fruit did to you!" Dipper was about to take out his journal when She stopped him.

"Dipper, I didn't eat the fruit."

"But t-the bites that were taken out of the—," He stuttered pointing at the fruit.

"That was Gideon's," Mabel explained, "I didn't know if it was poisonous, so I said I wanted to try some of his. Good thing I didn't!"

"Pines'!" Gideon caught both twin's attention. Dipper instinctively took a step in front of Mabel. Gideon pointed at Mabel, "You will love me the way I love you Mabel Pines! One day, you'll see!"

"Um, no…ew," Mabel cringed.

"And you!" Gideon stuck his finger in Dipper's direction, "You will pay for your transgressions, boy!"

"Dude, you're younger than me!" Dipper said with an exasperated sigh. Mabel took a step forward, Dipper about to hold her back but she shook her head. She walked up to Gideon, who looked both confused and hopeful. She smiled at him kindly—

—then sucker punched him right in the gut.

"That's for threatening my brother!" Mabel stoop above Gideon. As the boy lie on the ground, groaning in pain, Mabel rejoined her brother.

"Come on Bro-Bro! Let's go home!" She said in her typically chipper tone. She lead Dipper back into the forest.

—-

The twins were sitting on the chair in the living room watching TV. Dipper heard the metallic lock of the snack machine door closing, their Gruncle entering the room, wiping oil from his hands. He noticed how beat up Dipper looked and raised his eyebrow.

Dipper looked at him and sighed, "Gideon," and that was all the explanation their Gruncle needed as he sat on the edge of the chair. All three stared, glassy eyed at the screen. It had been a long day for all of them.

"The journal!" Dipper realized, "Great! Gideon will be suspicious of us now!" Dipper hopped down from the chair and grabbed a pen from his vest and began pacing. He tapped the pen to his chin, "We'll have to think of a new plan to get that journal away from him…"

"Or we could just use this!" Mabel exclaims as she turns around in a circle, "Bum, ba-da-BUM!" She sings, pulling a red leather bound book from her sweater, a golden six fingered hand with the number two adorning the cover. Both Dipper and Stan looked at Mabel in awe.

"How did you get it?" Dipper asked.

"Where were you keeping it?" Stan wondered as Dipper ran up and hugged his sister. Mabel handed the journal to Stan and returned the hug.

"When I tackled Gideon to the ground, I took the journal while I was getting that amulet away from him!" She said proudly. Stan then came over and gave her a noogie, effectively messing up her hair.

"I am so proud of your pick pocketing, sweetie!" Stan then looked at the cover of the book, his gaze settled on the six fingered hand. Two other small hands laid themselves on the journal. He looked up to see his niece and nephew looking up at him.

"Let's get my brother back!" Stan said, waving the kids to follow him down to the portal. Once they get there, Stan opens up one book to the page of the schematic, Mabel takes Journal 1 and opens it up to another piece of the schematic, and finally Dipper opens up Journal number 3 to the schematic page.

The lie the books together, completing the design for the portal. Stan sat down in his chair, cracked his knuckles, and got to work making adjustments on the portal. Dipper and Mabel stepped back as they watched Stan work.

"Hey, so now that Gideon doesn't have the journal, does that mean that he can't summon Bill anymore?" Mabel asked her brother in a hushed tone.

"Hey, you're right!" Dipper realized, "Without the journal, Gideon can't summon Bill. And if he can't summon Bill, then that stupid triangle will never know to come back to Gravity Falls!"

"Oh my gosh, did we just stop Weirdmageddon?" Mabel asks excitedly.

"I think we did Sister!" Dipper responds as they high five each other.

—-

A small white haired boy sits in his bedroom, playing with homemade wooden dolls. The room is dark as he moves the dolls around.

"Gideon, I do love you!" Gideon says in a feminine high pitched voice as he moves the girl doll around, "My horrible brother is keeping us apart!"

Gideon then grabs a similar doll, this one wearing a blue and white hat, "What're you going to do without your precious amulet?" Gideon says in a doofy voice. He then chuckles, reaching into his interior jacket pocket.

"You'll see, boy," He feels around for the journal, "You'll—huh?" Gideon takes reaches into his jacket on one side, then on the other. Panicked, he takes the jacket off. He then stops and realizes he had it before Mabel Tackled him, and then…

"Mabel! How could you!?" Gideon screamed. His face turned from shock to anger as he walks back to his desk, and eerie calm settling over him. "Heehee, no matter—" Gideon opens the desk drawer. He reaches in and removes a false bottom from the drawer, revealing several pages that look to be torn out of the journal. "I knew something like this might happen some day."

They were all pages that he thought would be useful. Some of the pages depicts monsters, spells, and a magical artifact or two. He searches through the pages until he finds the one he was looking for. There are scribbles all over the page, with numbers and formulas adorning it as well. The top is labeled 'Creature #326' and drawn on the is a large circle containing 10 different symbols. This outer circle surrounds an inner circle, which contains a triangular hoped being with a single eye. Gideon pulls out another page as well, this one simply has the same drawing of the creature with the word 'Summoning' written at the top, followed by a list of instructions.

The small boy laughs maniacally as he holds the pages in his hands. He would get his journal back, he would get Mabel, and he would get revenge on the Pines family. He just needed a little help from a friend…

QCIBH MCIF DOUSG

 **A/n: Hey guys! Sorry this chapter is late! I got a new computer and was busy getting everything** **transferred! Thanks** **DragoncatKHfan for the great idea of having Mabel punch Gideon! Hopefully I did the characters justice, but let me know if anyone seems a little ooc. The next chapter will be up by Friday as well as a new chapter of my other Gravity Falls Fic, Return of the Body Snatcher! As always, thanks for reading! Please leave a review!**

 **Fun Fact: that scientific name for the Love fruit is the actual scientific name for the Bleeding Heart flower!**

 **The more you know!**


	7. Little Black Box

**A/n: So I guess the first time this went up, it was covered in code... I honestly have no clue how that happened, so here is the chapter in legible form!**

Chapter 7 - LITTLE BLACK BOX

The forest was calm in this morning. Dew covered the foliage in a glistening shimmer, and Mabel loved it. She skipped along as Dipper walked behind her, journal open to the page showing the entrance to the secret bunker. He began muttering about the dew making his shoes soggy.

"Come on Dip n' dot! Do you have to complain on such a beautiful morning?" Mabel bounded up a rock and looked out into the forest, her eyes peeled for the tree with the lever on it. Dipper shook more dew from his shoe and joined her on top of the rock.

"Walking around in wet shoes is literally the worst, Mabel," Dipper complained as he struggled to find his footing. Mabel offered him a hand and she pulled him up on top of the rock. They both looked off into the distance, Mabel making her hands into a pair of binoculars. She scans the trees when she finally spots the metallic gleam of the false tree.

"Captain! Bunker ahoy!" Mabel announces, pointing in the direction of the tree. Dipper grabs her hand and they both jump down from the rock. They ran up to the tree, looking up at the lever. Wendy wasn't with them this time, but Dipper already had a plan for getting down into the bunker.

"You're up Mabel!" Dipper said as he stepped aside. Mabel sauntered up to the tree. She then quickly reached into her sweater and pulled out a grappling hook. She aimed at the lever, and with expert precision, she fired the gun, casting the hook up and around the lever several times. She pulled down as the staircase to the bunker revealed itself. She retracted the grappling hook and put it safely back in her sweater as she and Dipper began down the stairs.

—

"Alright Mabel," Dipper began as he entered the control room, "the cryotubes are still stable. That shape shifter isn't getting out anytime soon." He walked over to the chair his sister was currently spinning in and abruptly stopped it. Mabel was about to berate her brother when she was suddenly extremely dizzy. She fell off the chair, landing clumsily on the ground.

As she lie there, trying to get her bearings, she noticed something she hadn't seen before. A small black box with a padlock on it. The box was nothing special, just black, a little dented, but other than that, it wasn't very remarkable. Still, Mabel felt drawn towards it, her eyes fixated on it. She reached for the box and stood up, showing it to Dipper.

He looked at it with the same fascination that she had. He held out his hands and she placed the box in them. He then turned the box around, analyzing it from all angles. Dipper narrowed his eyes at the strange object.

"Look familiar?" Mabel asks him as he studies the lock holding the box shut. He flicks it once, a small clang reverberates off the metal of the box. He then purses his lips.

"Yes, but I know I've never seen this thing before," Dipper hands it back to Mabel to look at, "It's like my brain is telling me that I should remember it, but I can't. Let's take it back to the shack, maybe there's something there we can use to open that lock."

—

Mabel was strangely quiet, Dipper had noticed. She wasn't skipping like she was this morning, her entire mood had changed. Dipper realized his mood had changed too. He was anxious to make sure the shape shifter wouldn't cause trouble later. Once they found that box, though, he had this feeling of dread and understanding come over him, but he had no idea why. He had never seen this box before, so he had no reason to dread it, but he also couldn't explain why he felt as though it was familiar. Dipper looked back to his sister, her face reflecting his own.

"Mabel, are you okay?" Dipper asked cautiously. Mabel looked at him, her confusion evident.

"Yeah, I just feel kind of weirdy around this box," Mabel shrugged, holding the box out at arms length, "That and…" Mabel trailed off, but Dipper knew what she was thinking about.

The nightmares.

Dipper had talked to her about the nightmares he had been having. How he assumed it was revealing what had happened the night the got sent back to the beginning of summer. She told him that she had been having a similar dream, but hers started earlier than his.

Her dream always started the same: Bill had just jumped into Stan's head. Dipper pulled her close as they looked on, helpless. Ford typed _Stanley Pines_ into the memory gun and held it up. Right as he pulled the trigger, a blue force field appears around Stan, the shot from the memory gun ricocheting back at Ford, barely missing him. Stan then begins screaming, his eyes glowing bright blue as he is lifted in the air. Suddenly, a portal begins to open up behind their floating Gruncle. The last thing she sees is her Gruncle floating in the force field, then a triangular shape appears beside him.

"Mabel, I promise you, we will figure out what the dreams mean," Dipper assured her. She gives him a small smile and nods. Dipper had added her part of the dream to the journal he had been keeping, both of them adding any details they could remember. They had both agreed that they wouldn't tell Stan until they got Ford back. The did't want to worry him with another problem, especially when they were so close to getting his brother back.

As Dipper and Mabel come up on the mystery shack, they feel something is wrong. Suddenly, they feel lighter. Small pebbles on the ground begin to float in the air, Gompers spins upside-down as he chomps on some grass, even the totem poe is hovering about the ground. Dipper hears his sister yelp and he looks over to see her floating higher in the air. He looks down to see himself rising too.

Suddenly, they feel a force, almost like a shockwave. The everything plummets back to the ground. Dipper almost landed on his head while Mabel lands on her butt. Dipper rubs his head as Mabel gets up slowly. Dipper follows suit and they both look at each other.

"Kids!" The twins turn to see their Gruncle Stan yelling out the door, "Get inside, now!" The twins run in after their uncle. He takes a quick look around outside, making sure no one is following them and then shuts and locks the door. It was finally time.

Time to get Ford back.

 _O HOZS CT HKC XCIFBOZG_


	8. Gravity Rising

Chapter 8 - Gravity Rising

 _VOPD RYYU!_

Dipper watched on as his Gruncle began closing all the blinds on the Mystery Shack. It kind of freaked him out the sudden change of demeanor in his Gruncle. He also understood, if the gravitational anomalies were beginning to occur, that meant that the portal was almost operational. Which meant they were that much closer to getting Great Uncle Ford back.

Stan finished sealing up the house when Dipper and Mabel noticed a blue pulsating glow coming from behind the ending machine. Stan approached the false door and began inputing the secret code.

"Uh, Gruncle Stan, is the portal supposed to be giving off that eerie, other-worldly glow?" Dipper pointed out as the secret door swung open. He made his way to the elevator, motioning for the kids to follow. They both obliged and soon they were traveling down, below the Mystery Shack.

As the doors opened, a bright light flooded the lab. Dipper shielded his eyes as he stumbled in. Once they adjusted, he looked up at the functioning portal. The last time he was here, he hadn't been able to admire the portal. Mostly because of the whole, 'End of the World' warnings Ford had written down. Looking at it now, even knowing why it was originally made, he couldn't help but stare in awe of it. The design, the technology, the fact that Ford had built it, it was all truly amazing to Dipper. His Gruncle's voice finally pulled him back to the situation at hand.

"That wasn't the first gravity shift, there will be more," He grunts as he approaches the fuel gauge. He then mumbles a curse under his breath.

"Gruncle Stan, what's wrong?" Mabel questioned worryingly as she approached her Gruncle.

"We need more fuel!" Stan rips off one of the gloves he had been wearing and throws it across the lab, nearly hitting Dipper in the face, "Oh, uh, sorry kid!" He then plops down on the chair at the desk, his hand on his face.

A noise brings everyone's attention to the portal. The light begins fading, dimming. Stan groans again and looks back at the fuel gauge, the levels being way below working conditions. He sighs and stands up. He approaches a metal closet and, when he opens it, a hazmat suit is revealed. He pulls it out and begins heading back to the elevator. At that moment, a thought occurs to Dipper.

"Wait! Gruncle Stan! You can't go steal that toxic waste!" Stan stopped in his tracks, eyebrows raised, "This happened last time: You stole the waste, started the portal up, and the gravity anomalies brought these government guys."

"Why didn't you mention that earlier?!"

"That doesn't matter! What we need to do, is get you and alibi before you steal that waste, then those government guys will have no cause to arrest you!" Dipper was pacing now. Mabel scrunched up her face, thinking things through. As Dipper rounded to walk back across the room, Mabel grabbed him by the shoulders and put her face in his.

"Wax Stan!" She grinned madly as Dipper blinked, confused. Suddenly his face mirrored his as he understood. Meanwhile, Stan stood off to the side, still holding the hazmat suit, looking more and more confused by the second.

"To the Gravity Falls Wax Museum!" Mabel shouted as she ran into the elevator. Stan turned to Dipper, who was making his way to the elevator.

"She does know there is no wax museum in Gravity Falls, right?" Stan asked.

"Gruncle Stan, you own the Gravity Falls wax museum…" Dipper reminded him. Stan scratched his head as he followed his niece and nephew into the elevator and up the stairs.

—

Stan was concerned. Hell, let's be honest, concerned wasn't even the right word, but he just couldn't think of one that described this situation. He watched as his niece and nephew dismembered and threw them into a fire he had lit for them. It was a disturbing sight, to say the least.

"Soooooo…..uh…" Stan couldn't find the words to even ask the kids what they were doing. The twins turned to him, bits of wax covering them. Dipper tossed the head of wax Larry King into the fire as he stared at Stan. His eyes darted to the fire, then back to his Gruncle. When Stan didn't finish his thought, the kids went back to finishing up with their wax figure massacre.

When they finally finished, Mabel began gathering the melted wax up into the shape of a cube. Stan watched as she pulled some tools seemingly out of thin air and was about to start working on the wax. Her brother stopped her.

"Wait Mabel," he began, "they won't be fooled by a statue, he needs to move around for it to be convincing!" He thought for a moment, then perked up, "Old Man McGucket! He can build us a robot skeleton for Wax Stan!"

"Wait, kid—" Stan called but it was too late, Dipper was already out the door. He sighed and noticed Mabel leaving as well, "H-hey! Where're you going?"

"To raid your closet from clothes for Wax Stan!" With that, she vanished, leaving Stan alone in the room. Wax littered the floor, the walls, and the fireplace. Stan leaned against a wall, a stuffed rhino head mounted next to him. He stared at it, having half a mind to ask it what the hell was going on. He decided against it, pushing himself back up from the wall and heading downstairs to grab himself a Pitt Cola.

—

Mabel had to admit, for being a shoddy imitation of her original masterpiece, it didn't look half bad! He still had just as much glitter as before, a smiling face, and a perfectly Gruncley nose! She stepped back to join her brother and Stan in looking at the double. Mabel noticed his eyes were wide, almost as if he had seen a ghost.

That's when Mabel realized why her Gruncle had reacted to Wax Stan so strangely the first time around. It wasn't because he loved it, like she had originally thought, but because it looked like his twin. Not completely, but enough to throw him off. This new revelation also explained why he was so upset when the wax figures killed Wax Stan. It would have been like losing his brother all over again.

Mabel shook away these thoughts of a timeline past. She looked at her Gruncle and he smiled back at her, kneeling down so she was at eye level with him.

"Sweety, it looks great!" He got back up and patted Dipper on his shoulder, "And you can't even tell there's a a robot inside! Good thinking," He took off Dipper's hat and began giving him a noogie. Dipper snatched his hat back but smiled at his Gruncle.

"I call him, RoboWax Stan!" Mabel cried triumphantly.

"Now it's time for Phase 2," Dipper began as he pulled out a remote and began controlling their new robot. Dipper lead RoboWax Stan down to the gift shop while Mabel followed. Dipper controlled RoboWax Stan to the counter and began making him stock things while Mabel pretended to talk to him.

"So this is all well and good Dipper, but why exactly did you and your sister want to make a robot wax version of me?" Stan asked as he joined Dipper in the doorway to the gift shop.

"We're giving you an alibi so you can go get that toxic waste!" Dipper said, still controlling RoboWax Stan. Stan finally understood and clapped Dipper on the back. He then went back down to the lab, grabbed the hazmat suit, and began putting it on.

—

Dipper watched as Gruncle Stan loaded the last bit of waste into the fuselage. The gauge now read full for the portal. His Gruncle turned to the two of them, took off his fez, and wiped his forehead. As he did so, residue from the toxic waste absorbed into his skin.

"Whew! Can't be too careful with this stuff," He commented as he went back to work on starting up the portal.

"Uh, Gruncle Stan…?" Mabel began, but Stan continued with the portal. Dipper shrugged and joined his Gruncle at the helm and Mabel followed after.

—

Stan was surprised how easy everything was. Sure, he had two time travelers telling him what to avoid and what would happen next, but still. They were in the final 10 minutes of the countdown to the portal opening. There had been growing gravitational activity, but he and the twins were prepared.

The government agents had come and gone, which surprised Stan and made him nervous. The government never let these kinds of things go so easily. His nephew had chalked it up to them not ever experiencing the supernatural first hand, so they had no solid evidence to stay. Their forged tape had cleared Stan's name, and they went on their way. Stan would be keeping a closer eye out though.

He looked back at his niece and nephew. Dipper was standing on the chair, leaning on the desk, monitoring the portal. A pile of chewed pens sat next to the three journals. Stan smiled at that, he really did look and act so much like Ford when he was the kid's age. The thought sent a pang of guilt through his heart.

He turned to Mabel, she had found another chair among the junk in the lab and was sipping around, singing various songs and making noises. Stan smiled at her. She was such a free spirit, never too serious, and could always brighten his mood. Mabel finally got dizzy and fell from her chair, coincidentally taking Dipper's chair with her. Her brother lost his footing and fell on top of her. Stan was worried at first, but the kids looked at each other and began laughing. Dipper helped Mabel up and they both sat on the ground for a moment.

"Uh, hey kids?" The twins turned to their Gruncle, smiles still stretched across their faces. Stan gets down on the floor and sits with them. He uses a finger to push some stray dust around. Dipper and Mabel wait patiently for what their Gruncle has to say, "I wasn't sure about having you guys here for the summer. When your parents called, I was still in the middle of working on the portal, and I didn't want you two getting caught up in all the weirdness of the town. But your mother was persistent, and I gave in.

"I thought I would just have you two help me out with the Shack, maybe go fishing or to the pool, have a couple of wacky adventures, but when you two showed up on my doorstep, talkin' about time travel and the apocalypse; to be honest, I thought you tow were insane,"

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other in confusion. Stan knew the kids had no idea why he was bringing this up, he didn't even know why, himself. But he felt he needed to say something to them.

"But then you two told me about Ford. How we saved him. Instead of being mad at me for not telling you, you two knuckleheads offered to help me get him back," Stan stared longingly at the portal. The countdown dropping lower and lower, "I would have preferred you two not getting wrapped up in Ford's weird experiments, but I'm happy you're here now. I guess what I wanted to say was, thank you. Both of you. I probably wouldn't be getting my brother back if it weren't for you two."

Mabel tackled Stan with a huge hug and Dipper joined in. He laughed as he returned it. He savored the moment, just being with his family…

His family… it felt good to say that.

The moment was broken when a red light started flashing and an alarm sounded. Stan looked over his niece and nephew to see that the portal was opening. Suddenly his watch beeped.

"Oh no! Brace yourselves!" Stan yelled over the blaring of the alarm. Both Dipper and Mabel grabbed onto something as the gravity shifted. Mabel lost her grip and began floating upwards and away from the wall. Stan reached out and was able to grasp the end of her sweater and pulled her toward him. She held onto him tightly as they looked on at the portal.

The timer reached 0.

The portal swirled angrily.

A large flash.

 _Did I make a mistake?_

Gravity was no more.

Reality ceased to exist.

Then suddenly, everything fell.

—

Dipper opened his eyes slowly. His head felt like it was on fire, and he lifted his head up from the ground. He blearily looked around and spotted Stan protecting Mabel, she lying on top of him. He ran over and helped her off the Gruncle as he heard a moan coming from the old conman. Dipper helped steady Mabel and watched as Stan slowly got up. Dipper then looked out at the portal.

It was a reck. The portal was smashed to pieces and glass, wires, and other debris littered the ground. Dipper stumbled into the portal room, despite Stan's calls for him to wait. He saw that the journal and fallen on the floor, in front of the portal.

The portal was fading, the symbols surrounding it blinking out. The blue swirling of the interdimentional energy calmly shifted, and eerie contrast to the angry explosion just moments before. A shape began moving behind the portal. A man stepped through the portal, right as it flickered and dissipated.

We wore thick goggles and a large scarf that covered most of his face. His grey hair whipped around in the residual energy caused by the explosion. He walked calmly over to the red journal lying on the ground. Putting his six fingered hand up to the golden one adorning the journal, he picked it up and tucked it into his coat.

Dipper stared in awe, all of the feelings of meeting the author, discovering it was Great Uncle Ford, coming back to him. Stan had finally entered the room followed by Mabel. They stared in disbelief as Ford walked past Dipper and towards Stan.

"Finally, after all these long years of waiting! You're actually here!" Stan held his arms out as Ford got closer. A smile grew across his face as Ford took off the goggles and the scarf, continuing his march closer.

"Gruncle Stan, you should probably watch for that left hook," Mabel mentioned offhandedly.

"Brother!" Stan said, but then turned to Mabel, "Wait, what?"

But before she could answer, Ford's fist flew at high speed into Stan's jaw.

 **Sorry if this is a bit later than normal. The reason is because, while I am writing the chapter that will be posted, I'm writing outlines 3 chapters ahead. Your reviews and theories really do influence the story, so please keep letting me know what you think! There have been quite a few chapters where someone makes a comment that causes me to rework entire plot points and interactions. Until next week!**


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